François d'Alençon
(1554 - 1584) France
Poltician
Born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, fith son of king Henri II and of Caterina de' Medici, Hercule François de Valois, Duke d'Évreux 1560, Duke d'Alençon et Château-Thierry 1566, Duke d'Anjou, de Berry et de Touraine 1576, was the brother of king Henri III.
Small and swarthy, ambitious and cunning, François was leader of the moderate Roman Catholic faction called the Politiques, who supported Bodin's theory of sovereignty. He courted Queen Elizabeth and even succeeded in negotiating a marriage contract with her in 1579; despite two visits to London to woo her, the mariage never took place, possibly because he was discovered being homosexual.
His lover was Louis de Clermont Sieur de Bussy d'Amboise (five years his elder).
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